Capital AudioFest 2023

On A Higher Note’s Philip O’Hanlon is typically seen at shows playing unusual records while entertaining attendees with his charming storytelling and Irish brogue. This was something different.

Brogue intact, O’Hanlon was operating Déjà Vu Audio’s room. No surprise there, as Vu is a major mid-Atlantic dealer, based in Vienna, Virginia. The room contained O’Hanlon’s Graham LS5/9 standmount loudspeakers ($7773/pair), a MoonRiver 404 Reference integrated amplifier ($5995) with a MoonRiver MM/MC phono stage module ($775), Lector CD-707 tubed compact disc player with separate PSU-3T power supply ($4790), Déjà Vu Audio Aldo Custom Preamplifier with MM/MC phono stage ($27,000) and a Synthesis A100 Titan tubed integrated amplifier with built-in DAC ($10,995). O'Hanlon played records on a minty fresh Garrard Model 301 turntable with a Wheaton Triplanar tonearm and a Koetsu Rosewood cartridge. The Grahams were positioned in front of a huge pair of Déjà Vu Audio floorstanders with two massive 18" woofers and a 15" horn. A Matt Brady audio rack helps components including a classic Western Electric amplifier.

This hybrid setup spanning decades did an excellent job playing records from O’Hanlon’s collection, including Ravi Shankar and Phillip Glass’s Passages and the Penguin Café Orchestra.